Not Guilty by Reason of Insanity – based on the insanity defense

1.A criminal defendant’s plea of not guilty that is based on the insanity defense. — Abbr. NGRI. — aka not guilty on the ground of insanity.

insanity defense –Criminal law. (1912) An affirmative defense alleging that a mental disorder caused the accused to commit the crime. See 18 USCA § 17; Fed. R. Crim. P. 12.2. * Unlike other defenses, a successful insanity defense may not result in an acquittal but instead in a special verdict (“not guilty by reason of insanity”) that usually leads to the defendant’s commitment to a mental institution. — aka insanity plea.

insanity – a mental disorder severe enough to prevent a person from having legal capacity, excusing them from criminal or civil responsibility; constitutes an insanity defense.

black-rage insanity defense – (1995) An insanity defense based on an African-American’s violent eruption of an er induced at least partly by racial tensions. * This defense was first used in the mid-1990s.

Various Tests used to Determine Sanity:

appreciation test– requires clear, convincing evidence that at the time of the crime, the defendant suffered from a severe mental disease or defect preventing them from appreciating the wrongfulness of the conduct. Established via the Insanity Defense Reform Act of 1984: 18 USCA § 17. — akaInsanity Defense Reform Act of 1984 test.

Currens test – requires no more than the jury must be satisfied that as a result of mental disease or defect, the accused lacked substantial capacity to conform his conduct to the requirements of the law.

Durham test– holds that a defendant is not criminally responsible for an act that was the product of mental disease or defect. — aka Durham rule;product test.